While top-ranked Georgia struggled on the road with Auburn, most of the rest of the Top 10 dominated their Week Five matchups. Outside of the Top 10, there were a few ranked matchups that made Week Five fun to watch, including one of the best games of the year in Oxford between LSU and Ole Miss and other great inter-conference games.

Georgia doesn’t look the same as the past two years, struggling with teams they should be dominating. Apparently, they don’t show up in the first half anymore, being down 14-3 to South Carolina, allowing 21 to UAB and being tied with Auburn 10-10, including being down to them in the second half before eventually taking a 27-20 lead that they would hold on to. The issue for Georgia is a bit of a mystery, but as they play more conference games and their schedule gets harder, we’ll see if they’re a true contender or if they’re a likely playoff exit.

While Georgia struggled, a few other teams didn’t. Number two-ranked Michigan dominated from start to finish against Nebraska, beating them 45-7, with those seven points coming in the fourth quarter when the game was already well in favor of the Wolverines. Texas played a ranked matchup against Kansas at home, stepping closer to a Big 12 Championship. It was a one-score game at halftime at 13-7, but Texas regrouped and dominated the second half, ending the game in a 40-14 win and handing the Jayhawks their first loss of the year, and advancing themselves to 5-0. Over in the Big 10, Penn State was tied with Northwestern at halftime, 10-10, but they crushed the Wildcats in the second half, scoring 31 and only letting up three to end the game in a 41-13 win. Over in the Pac-12, Oregon looks like a playoff contender, beating Colorado last week and Stanford this week, both by a score of 42-6. With the increased level of competition this season in the Pac-12, there’s a very likely chance that the winner of the conference will make the playoffs, which will make Oregon’s matchups with top-ranked Washington and USC vital to the playoff race.

Other ranked games in Week Five weren’t just the top teams controlling from kickoff to the final kneel, they were close and entertaining. Starting with Notre Dame at Duke, the Blue Devils were trying to remain in contention for the ACC, competing with teams like Florida State, and Notre Dame coming off their loss to Ohio State and trying to put themselves back in the playoff picture. Notre Dame was controlling the game early, leading 10-0 at halftime, but neither team could get too much offense going, with both quarterbacks only having one combined passing touchdown the entire game. Duke took the lead late, but Notre Dame put together a great final drive to win the game 21-14 and get a very good quality win. Over in Arizona, Washington took a visit to the Wildcats, who kept it closer than expected against a dangerous-looking Washington team. Washington always felt like they had the edge, and they did have a two-possession lead in the 4th quarter to seal the win, but Arizona held it closer than many expected them to, with a final score of 31-24, giving themselves something to build off of for the rest of the season. Finally, in a Top 20 SEC matchup, LSU took a visit to Ole Miss. At different times it looked like both teams were going to run away with the game. In the first quarter, Ole Miss took a 21-7 lead and looked to be dominating, but then Jayden Daniels and LSU struck back with 21 points of their own in the second quarter to make the halftime score 31-28 in favor of Ole Miss. The third quarter was similar to the second, with LSU scoring 14 and holding Ole Miss to just three, giving themselves a 42-34 lead. The two exchanged shots in the 4th quarter, but Ole Miss eventually came out on top in a 55-49 shootout. With two losses, LSU is likely out of the playoff race, while Ole Miss is going to need some help, but can still have a great season.

With conference play beginning, the season will start to take shape. We’ll begin to see whose for real, and who will fall off. There’s still a lot of time, and every team is counting down to the first CFP rankings reveal to see where they stand, but until then they’ll continue to build their resumes and prove themselves to be the best.